Ahead of Peter Murrell's sentencing on Tuesday, the men who triggered Police Scotland's Operation Branchform investigation into SNP finances back in March 2021 demanded that both the former party's chief executive and the former leader Nicola Sturgeon should apologise for the scandal.
Murrell, they said, should do so for embezzling more than £400,000 from the party over 12 years, while Ms Sturgeon should apologise for shutting down concerns over party finances raised by senior members.
So far we have had an apology from Murrell.
The 61-year-old former SNP chief made his contrition and remorse known through his lawyer John Scullion when the KC addressed the presiding judge Lord Young on Tuesday morning.
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Mr Scullion, referring to a report compiled by a social worker based on interviews with Murrell, told the court: "He recognises not only the harm caused to those directly affected by his actions, but also the broader societal impact of his dishonesty.
"It is apparent from the report in my submission that he accepts full responsibility for his actions and does not seek to minimize his culpability in any way, and nor do I.
"In discussion of the offences, the author of the report confirms that he expresses feelings of guilt and remorse, recognizing what he describes as a measurable psychological, emotional, and financial harm to the party and others.In my submission, the accused is now an individual overwhelmed by feelings of embarrassment and shame."
Sean Clerkin and David Henry are unlikely to be the last people to ask for an apology from either Murrell or his estranged wife Ms Sturgeon who was SNP leader and First Minister for eight of the years he was embezzling money from the party.
The demands for an apology from her are going to intensify after two former SNP members who quit the party's finance and audit committee in March 2021 have talked about their experiences.
Allison Graham and Cynthia Guthrie quit the committee after failing to be allowed to examine the party's bank accounts and after their questions over their party's finances were dismissed.
Now they have said the way they were treated amounted to "bullying".
Speaking to the Scottish Sun, they said they and former Edinburgh Lord Provost Frank Ross were obstructed by Murrell and other party HQ chiefs when they tried to scrutinise SNP income and expenditure.
They told how they were given only snippets of information on screen in meetings — with Mr Ross seeing at one point the SNP’s 2020 budget “was out by £1.51 million”.
Ms Graham described how after reading out her resignation statement at a meeting of the National Executive Committee, attended by Ms Sturgeon, one councillor launched a verbal attack on her with Ms Sturgeon and others supporting him.
Ms Graham said: “It was overwhelming. It was just like a torrent. I’m not a shy, retiring individual but this was like being bullied in the playground. It felt as if you were being kicked.”
Ms Sturgeon then infamously told the meeting: “I’m not going to get into the details but, you know, just be very careful about suggestions that there are problems with the party’s finances, because we depend on donors to donate. There are no reasons for people to be concerned about the party’s finances.”
Ms Graham added: “She failed in her duty as party leader and there’s zero accountability and there’s zero humility."
So far Ms Sturgeon has refused to apologise for dismissing concerns that were repeatedly which even saw the party's treasurer Douglas Chapman quit in May 2021.
She has consistently maintained that she was a victim of Murrell's embezzlement and has rejected criticism she shut down concerns.
"I will take responsibility for the things I do, the decisions I make. I'm sitting here with you right now, answering questions because I believe strongly in that accountability," she told the BBC last month.
"But I am not responsible for the crimes that my former husband committed and I'm not going to apologise for somebody else's crimes."
Police Scotland ended its investigation into Ms Sturgeon last year and she was never charged.
Why she was so reluctant to act on members' concerns we don't know. But it is for this shortcoming of basic management that she should apologise.
And had she responded better it is possible Murrell's crimes could well have been detected much earlier, perhaps reducing the length of time Police Scotland had to take to investigate the offences - meaning less cost incurred to the public purse.
